Drew Ferguson: “I rise in favor of the rule on House Resolution 2505, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act. It is a good and fair rule, and…”

“I rise in favor of the rule on House Resolution 2505, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act. It is a good and fair rule, and it allows for a full debate on this important issue at hand. In light of recent scientific advances in genetic research, our society is faced with some difficult decisions, foremost among these is what value we place on human life. At first glance, human cloning appears to respect life because it mimics the creation of life. However, when we look closely at the manner in which this life is created, in a laboratory, and for what purpose, out of utility, one cannot help but see that cloning is actually the degradation of human life to a scientific curiosity. Designing a life to serve our curiosity, timing its creation to fit our schedules, manipulating its genetic makeup to suit our desires, is the treatment of life as an object, not as an individual with its own identity and rights. H.R. 2505, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act is a brave step in the right direction. This legislation amends U.S. law to ban human cloning by prohibiting the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer techniques to create human embryos. This act bans reproductive cloning and so-called therapeutic cloning.”